Hawthorn Senior Coach Sam Mitchell understands the challenge ahead of his side as it prepares to face the Gold Coast SUNS at UTAS Stadium on ANZAC Day.

Speaking to the media on Thursday morning, Mitchell reflected on last week’s three-point win over Port Adelaide, while also touching on Nick Watson’s form and Will Day’s recovery from a shoulder injury. 

Additionally, the Hawks coach confirmed that star forward Jack Gunston would make his return to the team for Saturday's match as the two sides compete for the Alec Campbell Cup.

We summarised the key points from his press conference below. 

On the win against Port Adelaide

“It was a good opportunity to win and learn at the same time. Sometimes when you win games of footy, it's a bit more difficult to learn the lessons. But, you know, we looked at the game pretty closely. It was good to have a seven-day break and get a good review in and learn some areas where we play our best and when we get pulled apart, what happens and how we can improve.”

On Gold Coast

“I think when Christian (Petracca) was playing at the start of the season, he was the most dominant player in the competition the first couple of weeks and picked up pretty quickly last week as well. So, we're going to need a bit of a plan for him. Wait to see what happens with Noah Anderson, whether he comes back into the side. They brought their Brownlow Medalist back in, and probably their most in-form player of the season has been (Touk) Miller. So, we look at their running power across the middle of the ground in particular and realise it's a real strength of theirs, and they're a very competitive and tough side. So, we know that we're going to have to play our best footy and be on from the start.”

On Nick Watson’s form

“I think when you look at the way he's playing at the age he is, we're pretty pleased with his development, and he continues to add strings to his bow. You know, he gets a little bit of exposure in the midfield and (I was) pleased that he was able to get to five (goals). He's had his opportunities to get there before. Now try to get six.”

On Will Day’s progress 

“Still a month (away). I wish he could play today. But our injury list is pretty short, so I'm pretty pleased. Our medical team and high-performance teams have done a great job to get everyone as fit as they could possibly be while staying out on the track. Will's tracking well, he's getting positive. We've actually lost him from the bench. He's been our sort of bench coach, and we’ve been going to him, but we've lost that now because he's got to do his own training as a priority, which is annoying because we lose him, but I'd much rather have him on the field than sitting on the bench on the phone, so he's getting closer.”

Watch Mitchell's full press conference below